Chapter Twelve:
All Is Found

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A few days later, Evie called Laila's phone. It wasn't the first time it had happened, nor was it the last, and yet Laila found that her heart began to beat faster in her chest and her palms became a little sweaty, and she took a deep breath before answering in an attempt to contain her bubbling excitement.

She cleared her throat. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey!" Evie said happily. "Got many plans today?"

"Well," Laila said, putting her phone on speaker. She raised her foot against the side of her bed and began to lace up her hiking boots. "I'm just about to go for a hike with Ingrid and her friend. It's actually a pretty decent day here in Arendelle. You got plans?"

Evie said, "Just a chill day today—might do some sewing. After Cotillion last night, I'm exhausted."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Laila said. She had totally forgotten that last night Mal had been introduced as a new Lady of the Court. She wished she could have gone. "How was that, by the way?"

"Good—a little hectic, though..."

"Oh?"

Laila moved across her bedroom, picking up her backpack and starting to pack it in preparation for the day trip with Ingrid and Saxa. As she packed, Evie talked.

"The other night, after we talked, I found..." Laila heard muffled sounds for a few seconds, like Evie was moving or adjusting her position. Evie sighed. "I found a note from Mal, saying that she went back to the Isle."

Laila stopped packing, covering her mouth. "Oh, my God."

"Yeah," Evie said. "So, we went back to the Isle to get her, but Uma—daughter of Ursula—had practically taken over the Isle whilst we were gone, right, and then she kidnapped Ben!"

"Oh, my God," Laila said. It was all she could manage to say. Ben had been kidnapped? That most certainly was not good... far from it.

"Uma wanted FG's wand to bring down the barrier, and she said she'd exchange Ben for it, so Carlos made a fake with the 3D printer and we tricked her!"

"Thank fuck." Laila let out a sigh of relief. "Tell Carlos he's a genius from me."

Evie laughed. "I will."

"Well, it sounds like you had a busy time..." Laila mused.

"Nuh-uh, I'm not finished yet," Evie said, and Laila could imagine her shaking her head on the other side of the phone. "Then Uma comes to Auradon, places a spell on Ben, and then Ben's like, 'Uma is my true love!'"

Laila gasped. "What the fuck?"

"I know, right!" Evie said. "But then Mal breaks the spell with a true love's kiss—adorable, right?—and Uma was so mad that she jumped into the water and turned into an octopus! And then, get this, Mal turned into a dragon!"

Eyes wide, Laila said, "A dragon? What—?"

"How cool!"

"Holy shit."

"Yeah. Uma disappeared after that... but everyone's fine, thank God."

Laila said, "Yeah, thank God. Wow. I can't believe all that happened and I wasn't even there to witness it. I mean—Mal can turn into a dragon? That's insane."

"Probably a good thing you weren't there. It was a bit dangerous."

"I'd do anything and everything if I could do it by your side," Laila said, and the scary thing was... she meant it. Evie went a little quiet, and Laila couldn't tell if it was a good quiet or a bad quiet, so in a small state of panic, she quickly added, "But anyway, um, it's good that you're all OK—I simply can't wait to come back and see you all."

Evie giggled. "I know. It feels like you've been gone for ages. I can't wait to see you."

Laila just about melted right then and there. Evie couldn't wait to see her—her! Laila smiled. "Aw. I've got to go, but talk soon."

"Yeah!"

As Laila hung up the phone, she couldn't help but let out a giggle and do a little happy dance right there and then. She was endlessly glad that Ingrid was not there to witness it... Laila wasn't sure she could withstand the teasing she just knew would follow. Because there was no doubt about it—Laila had it bad.

Evie Grimhilde had captured her heart, and she knew there was no going back.

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instagram — laila
&& two hours ago, 1:26 P.M.

♥︎ liked by evie and 215 others
laila just me and my best friend mother nature
2 hours ago

view all comments...

lonnie
hi i love u and i love this <3
2h     1 like

↳ laila hi i love u more and i can't wait
to see u again
2h     2 likes

ingrid
i love getting credit for taking this photo it feels great
2h     3 likes

↳ laila hmm but you only took
the photo because saxa told you to 👀
2h     6 likes

↳ ingrid shut UP
2h     4 likes

↳ saxa why do i feel like i'm missing out
on something here
2h     7 likes

carlos
"best friend" this is isak erasure 😔
2h     4 likes

↳ laila ohmygod you're right
2h     2 likes

↳ laila i'm sorry isak you'll always be
          my bestie!!!!
2h     5 likes

jane
you're so pretty!!!! i can't
2h     1 like

↳ laila STOP ur adorable
2h     1 like

evie
AWW this is cute!!!
2h     2 likes

↳ laila not as cute as u though <3
2h     3 likes

↳ ingrid hmmMm what is this i see laila
2h     9 likes

↳ laila STOP ingrid
2h     5 likes

evie
also when are u coming back to auradon?? we all miss you!!!
2h     6 likes

↳ laila i find it very hard to believe that
          audrey misses me
2h     3 likes

↳ evie ok true but i miss you
2h     4 likes

↳ laila alright i'll admit i let out an 'aww'
2h     2 likes

↳ ingrid it's true she's sitting right
beside me
2h     6 likes

↳ laila ingrid no one asked
2h     3 likes

↳ ingrid laila i don't care
2h     2 likes

↳ laila ANYWAY i come back late next
          week evie
2h     1 like

↳ evie omg yay i cannot wait!!!!
2h     2 likes

↳ laila 💖🥰♥️💖🥰
2h     1 like

»»-----　★　-----««

     Laila found herself about a month later feeling awfully sad. The last night at home before she went back to school was always a tough one—Laila loved her family dearly—but this time, it felt different. She'd had such an amazing break, and dare she say it was one of the best times of her life, because despite the constant teasing from Ingrid, she was genuinely, truly happy.

And absolutely nothing would make her even happier than seeing Evie tomorrow.

Yet she still felt sad.

Well, not sad, more so... wistful. Nostalgic, even. She was so incredibly happy to return to Auradon tomorrow, don't get her wrong, but she felt so gloomy about the break being over. After it was over, she wasn't sure when the next time she'd see her family... minus Ingrid, who was now going to be attending Auradon Prep.

Yeah, that was right, halfway through the school year. Ingrid had somehow managed to convince their parents to let her go now instead of waiting until next year—Laila truly had no idea how she did it—and she had promised Laila that the teasing would not end! And despite Laila being less than enthused about that, she could not deny that she was grateful Ingrid would be so close. Their relationship was closer than ever as a result of spending so much time together over break. Laila was loving it.

"Heya, Laila..."

Laila looked up from her desk as Anna entered her room. Navigating her way around the bags in the centre of the room—but Laila swore she wasn't that messy—Anna sat down at the edge of Laila's bed. She glanced around. "All packed?"

"I think so," Laila said. She wanted to say something more, but she didn't know how. The words were on the tip of her tongue. I'm going to miss you. But she couldn't bring herself to actually say them. If she said them, then all of it would actually be happening; Laila would actually be leaving tomorrow. If she didn't say it, then she could still try and pretend it wasn't happening. Not yet. She wasn't ready.

It seemed like her mom could sense that, because she smiled at her daughter softly. "Come on," Anna said, patting the bed as an invitation for Laila to go to sleep.

Laila deadpanned, "It's nine o'clock."

"And?" Anna questioned.

With as minimal grumbling as she could muster, Laila got up from her desk and slid into the covers of her bed. As she didn't want to go to sleep, not yet, she sat up in bed. She was already wearing her pajamas, so at least she didn't have to get dressed in them.

They didn't say anything for a minute, then Laila said, "I'm going to miss you."

Leaning over and giving her daughter a hug, Anna smiled, and Laila knew this was her mom's way of telling her that she was going to miss her, too. Laila leant into the hug. It lasted for a few bittersweet moments, before Anna was pulling away and saying, "I'm going to miss you so much."

Laila smiled at her.

"Hi." Laila and Anna looked over at the doorway where Ingrid was standing, also in her pajamas, looking off to the side. "Um, yeah, I was just walking past." Ingrid scratched the back of her head. Laila didn't believe her for a second—if she knew Ingrid, and she did, then her sister was here because she, too, felt gloomy.

"Well don't just stand there," Laila said, adjusting her position in the bed so that there would be room for her sister, too. "Come here."

Ingrid sent her a small smile. It wasn't long before Ingrid was getting into Laila's bed, too, stealing all the covers—it was fine, Laila gritted her teeth through the aggravation, snatching the covers back with a little more force than she meant to use.

"My girls," Anna said, smiling at them fondly. Laila and Ingrid stopped their dispute to look at their mom. "Jeg elsker dere. So much."

"Jeg er glad i deg, mamma." Laila smiled back.

Anna smiled again. She said, "OK, settle in... I'm going to sing you to sleep, just like when you were younger..." Laila and Ingrid made themselves comfortable as Anna shifted in her position at the end of the bed. "Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a river full of memory," Anna sang softly. "Sleep, my darling, safe and sound. For in this river all is found..."

If Laila had been feeling nostalgic before, she was now feeling that but tenfold. Her mother used to sing her that lullaby every night when she was a child; it was the only way that young Laila could get to sleep. Hearing the lullaby again after so long was a bit of a shock to the system, but in a good way. It was a welcome surprise.

"... But can you brave what you most fear..."

With her sister's arms wrapped around her and her mother's voice soothing her melancholic thoughts, Laila was at more than she had ever been before. It was like someone had sat her down, given her a warm blanket and some freshly baked cookies and had then told her that everything was going to be alright.

And despite it being only nine o'clock, Laila's eyes began to droop and she found it hard to keep her eyes open as the seconds passed and her mom kept singing.

"... Come my darling, homeward bound. When all is lost, then all is found."

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Authors Note!!!

let's just pretend that doug's feelings for evie just disappeared because i cannot be fucked writing them in anymore....... okay thanks

ALSO, so descendants 3 is set in the summer AKA sometime between june and august, right, but we're going to ignore that because when i was planning it all out i totally forgot....... so. instead, it's like, february. but they don't have school. i don't know, let's just pretend it makes sense OK COOL!!!

word count: 2038
25.05.2021